How Microsoft 365 can help internal comms reach frontline workers

Despite there being two billion of them worldwide, outnumbering desk-based workers 2:1, frontline workers are notoriously hard for internal comms to reach, meaning important information just isn’t getting through and frontline workers aren’t feeling heard (32% of them, according to a Microsoft survey).

A diverse group, these healthcare, retail, construction and public service employees are more likely to be on the shop floor, in the field or behind a wheel, than behind a desk, which leads to a number of challenges when it comes to internal communication.

Why frontline workers are so hard to reach?

There are three key reasons why frontline workers are such an elusive audience:

1. They have limited access to technology, for example, they don’t tend to have company-issued laptops or regular access to email.
2. They’re often geographically dispersed, working in various locations, far away from the company HQ.
3. They’re dependent on managers for information due to their lack of direct access to internal systems.

Why should we care about reaching frontline workers?

According to Emma Williams, Microsoft’s corporate vice president of Modern Work Transformations, when it comes to frontline workers and company comms, “We can’t afford to ignore them.” And here’s why:

• Happy employees go the extra mile, so when frontline workers feel connected, informed and valued, their engagement soars, directly correlating with higher productivity.
• Frontline roles often involve safety-critical tasks, meaning clear, timely communication about protocols and compliance is crucial to ensuring safety.
• Frontline workers are often the face of the organisation they represent, making their insights invaluable.
• Ensuring frontline workers are aligned with your company’s mission and values is key to maintaining a consistent service quality.
• Employees who feel heard and valued are less likely to leave, saving you recruitment and training costs (according to Gallup, frontline workers cost approximately 40% of their salary to replace).

So, far from being a nice gesture, ensuring frontline workers have access to company comms is a strategic move that makes good business sense.

6 ways Microsoft 365 can help bridge the communication gap

With the right technology and a robust comms strategy, it is possible to bridge the communications gap.

Here’s how Microsoft 365 can come to your rescue:

1. Pretty much everyone owns a smart phone, right? In fact, over 60% of the global population own one, rising to over 80% in the UK. So, the Teams mobile app can be invaluable for reaching your frontline. You can use it to provide real-time updates, give them access to schedules and training materials.
2. Using Teams instant messaging is a way of communicating quickly with time-pressed employees, making it easier to share updates and encourage collaboration.
3. Push notifications from Viva Connections Announcements are ideal for surfacing urgent messages direct to the Teams mobile app, regardless of whether your people are checking their devices or not.
4. Facilitate virtual and remote participation by using Microsoft Teams for meetings and training, that way distributed frontline workers can stay connected.
5. A well-designed intranet serves as a hub for essential documents, news and resources. And using the intranet via the Teams mobile app makes it accessible anytime and anywhere.

Introducing Microsoft 365 for Frontline Workers

And that’s not all. Microsoft 365 for Frontline Workers has been developed specifically to deal with the communications challenges this large, diverse workforce faces day to day.

Delivered through the Microsoft Teams mobile app or web browser, Microsoft 365 for Frontline Workers is available to F1 and F3 licence holders for a small fee, per user, per month.

Here’s how employees can benefit:

• One digital employee experience
• All employees access the same content
• A secure and protected digital employee experience solution, managed in your own network
• Offers both desktop and mobile experiences
• Personalised and targeted comms based on attributes such as role and location
• Enables communication, chat, community-building and collaboration, including email
• Allows for full, personalised intranet access

How Fresh augments the Microsoft 365 frontline worker experience

And of course, Fresh’s plug-and-play pre-packaged intranet solution augments Microsoft 365 by providing an enhanced, user-friendly interface leading to an improved communication experience.

Built on Microsoft 365, SharePoint, Teams and Viva, Fresh Intranet runs on your own Microsoft environment, complying with your business requirements.

A key feature of Fresh is its enhancement to Viva Connections, an application that runs from Microsoft Teams, including Teams mobile app. With over 13 different Viva Connections components, Fresh helps you reach frontline workers with targeted data, including events, news, content pages, policies, videos, conversations from Viva Engage, an AI-powered chat bot, and more.

If you’re an internal communication professional and you want to know more about using Microsoft 365 to reach your frontline workers, including best practice tips from industry expert Jenni Field, download our eBook: Effective communication for frontline workers with Microsoft 365: Making internal comms work for the frontline.